GAYLORD - A settlement reportedly is being negotiated between Otsego County and two men who brought a federal lawsuit against the county after they were injured when the snowmobile they were riding struck an Otsego County Sheriff's Dept. (OCSD) patrol car last year as they allegedly attempted to flee police.

Records from the U.S. District Court in Detroit indicate the judge for the case had dismissed the case June 16, after the two parties had agreed to settle out of court.

Denise Koning, Otsego County administrator, said county commissioners have authorized their attorney, Chris Johnson, to settle out of court with attorney Thomas Present, who is representing the plaintiffs in the case.

By granting authorization to settle the case out of court the county also, in effect, has authorized its responsibility to pay the deductible to its insurance carrier, who then will pay the final settlement amount when it is agreed upon.

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The lawsuit had been filed in Detroit's District Court by Michael Dietlin, 23, and David Delezenne, 33, who had crashed into an OCSD patrol car driven by Deputy Philip Van Dyke, in the early morning hours of Feb. 24, 2002.

The two men allegedly led police on a chase which began just south of Main Street in the downtown Gaylord area and ended on a snowmobile trail near Driftwood Lane and I-75, south of town. It is there Van Dyke had stopped his vehicle in an attempt to stop the fleeing men. The snowmobile, with the two riders, crashed head-on with the patrol car.

Dietlin, from Marine City, was seriously injured in the crash and Delezenne, from Port Huron, sustained minor injuries.

The chase began when a Gaylord City police officer stopped to offer assistance to the two men after Delezenne's snowmobile became stuck near the railroad tracks at Michigan Avenue. The two men, who reportedly had been drinking, then fled south on Dietlin's snowmobile, with Van Dyke and a Michigan State Police patrol vehicle entering into the pursuit.

Van Dyke reportedly drove his patrol vehicle onto the snowmobile path to intercept the two men. A video segment of the crash, obtained from the internal mounted video camera in the deputy's car, shows the snowmobile traveling directly toward the vehicle, just seconds after Van Dyke entered the trail.

Dietlin and Delezenne's lawsuit claimed the police had used excessive force in apprehending them during the fleeing and eluding.

The Michigan State Police from the Gaylord post and their report was turned over to the Otsego County Prosecutor's office for review. The review yielded no charges against Van Dyke.

Sheriff Jim McBride said while his department did not find that excessive force was involved in the incident, Van Dyke did receive a three-day suspension because he did not have his overhead lights activated at the time of the crash and his microphone was not turned on.